Cylindrical drum-type wood chippers, metal and plastic grinders reduce waste into chips or shards for recycling of materials. Drum-type wood chippers generally include a rotating cylindrical drum or rotor having an exterior surface studded with bits. Existing bits function as either hammers or knife blades depending upon, among other things, the consistency of the waste and the desired consistency of the output chips. For example, knife blades are used to produce neatly cut chips from waste having a relatively low density. Hammers, on the other hand, are used to pulverize, shred, and tear relatively dense waste into randomly shaped shards.
Existing bits are welded or bolted to the exterior surface of the drum. Although the bits can be positioned in any one of a virtually limitless number of patterns on the exterior surface of the drum, bits are generally either positioned in a screw pattern or a "V" pattern. Existing bits or hammers generally have a rectangular shape and are formed of a single piece of hardened steel. The front upper edge of the existing bits or hammer are worn from contact with the waste. When the front upper edge becomes excessively worn, the bits or hammer are replaced or repositioned so that another cutting edge is moved to the front position. The waste processing industry is extremely cost conscious. Therefore, longer wearing cutting bits are extremely important to the operators of chipping and grinding machines. The invented cutting bit apparatus and method of operation provides a cutting bit that has demonstrated a longer life for the cutting edge of the drill bit, therefore providing a significantly longer life of the cutting bit without significant additional cost for each cutting bit.